Retractable landing gear



Nov. 18-, 1941.

G. A. PAGE, JR

RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR Original Filed Oct. 27, 1934 INVENTOR GEORGE A .DAGE JQ.

BY y

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ATTORNEY for preventing landing Patented Nov. 18, 1941 PATENT OFFICE RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR George A. Page, In, Overland, Mo., assignor to Gurtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Original application October '27, 1934, Serial No.

750,286. Divided and this application October 18, 1938, Serial N0. 235,581

3 Claims.

This application relates to aircraft retractable landing gears, and comprises a division of a copending application Serial No..750,286, filed October 27, 1934, and entitled Retractable landing gear.

An object of the invention is to providemeans wheel rotation during flight and further, to prevent the rotation of retracted landing wheels particularly when the .landing gear organization is suchthat a part of the periphery of the landing wheel is exposed when retracted. I

A further object is to provide means automatically operable in response to retraction of thelanding gear for braking the wheel thereof and for preventing its rotation.

Further obiects will be apparent from areading of the annexed specification and claims, together with an examination of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an aircraft body,

partly broken away, and including a landing gear and the provisions of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the airplane wheel and of the wheel brake for preventing rotation ofthe wheel when retracted; and r Fig. 3 is a plan of the brake of Fig. 2.

The complete structure of the landing gear is described in detail in said copending application, 9 .but for the purpose of clearly describing the present invention it is necessary only to show the nacelle in having structure H to which is pivoted, at l2, a main landing gear shock absorbing "strut IS on the lowerend of which,.at M, a wheel 5 I5 is journaled. The strut I3 is swingable rearwardly and upwardly to the dotted line position by means of a buckling strut comprising two parts I1 and I8 hinged to one another and respectively hinged to the axle H and the structure II as at l9. Buckling of the strut is effected by means of a screw-shaft 20 shown as being covered with a telescoping housing 2|, the screwshaft being rotatable in either direction through gears in a gear box 23 driven by suitable manual or power mechanism, not shown. Within the nacelle and attached to a cross brace 25 of the nacelle structure H, is a bracket more clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to which is'hinged an arm 26 having a shoe 21 attached as by bolts 28 or their equivalent. The lower part of the arm 26, indicated at 29, is bent to form a stop adapted to rest against the brace 24 to limit the downward movement of the arm when the wheel is not in contact with the shoe :1. A spring a serves to urge the arm toward a downward position. Upon retraction of the landing gear the periphery of the wheel is engages the shoe 21 whereby rotation of the wheel within the nacelle is stopped and is further prevented during flight. Without the brake it would be possible for the wheel l5 to rotate continually when retracted since the lower portion of the wheel, as shown, is continually exposed tothefast moving airstream below the nacelle. When the wheel is extended, it moves out of contact with the shoe 21 and is iree thereafter to rotate, either due to action of the airstream or to ground contact when landing, the shoe 21 with its supporting structure remaining within the nacelle and being wholly inoperative when the landing gear is extended.

While 'I have described my invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. I aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes.

I claim as my invention:

1. In aircraft including a body having an opening in a lower surface thereof, a landing wheel, mechanism bpeiable to extend said wheel below the body and to retract the wheel into the body through said opening, said wheel when retracted lying principally within the body but having the lowermost part of its periphery lying without the body'confines and exposed to the airstream whereby the airstream tends to rotate the retracted wheel, and a brake shoe resiliently secured wholly within the body organized to be engaged by the wheel after partial retraction and entry thereof into the body to hold the wheel against rotation.

2. In aircraft including a body having an opening in a. lower surface thereof, a landing wheel, mechanism operable to extend said wheel below the body and to retract the wheel into the body through said opening, said wheel when retracted ,lying principally within the body but having the lowermost part of its periphery lying without the body confines and exposed to the airstream whereby the airstream tends to rotate the retracted wheel, and a brake shoe resiliently secured wholly within the body. organized to be engaged by the wheel after partial retraction and entry thereof into the body to hold the wheel against rotation, said shoe comprising an arm secured thereto and pivoted within the aircraft.

3. In aircraft including a body having a botor movement, stop means to limit arm movement tom recess and a landing gear including a, wheel so that the arm is at all times retained within the and means for extending the wheel below and confines of the body, a brake shoe on the arm clear of the body and for retracting the wheel inadapted to be engaged by the wheel as the latto the body into said recess, the recess being open 5 ter is retracted, and spring means acting between except for such closure as the retracted wheel the arm and the body urging the armand shoe may afiord, and the wheel, when retracted, prointo wheel contact. truding from the body, an arm hinged for swing- GEORGE A. PAGE, JR. ing within the body and having limited freedom 

